Martha Stewart’s early modeling years were a good thing

Before she turned being a domestic goddess into a billion-dollar business empire, Martha Stewart was a gorgeous young model just trying to pay her way through college. Signed to the famed Ford Models, Stewart cooked up quite the career while she was still in high school. She told People, “I knew that I could model, I knew I could pose for pictures, but I was not 𝓈ℯ𝓍y, and I was not provocative.” Although Stewart’s self-assessment is harsh, there’s no doubt the camera loved her, and she elegantly posed in everything from chic swimsuits to refined evening wear. For Stewart, modeling actually proved key to her future. It was on a modeling assignment in Europe that she dabbled in and studied the epicurean nuances of the continent, laying the groundwork for her success as a food and lifestyle impresario.

Stewart’s icy, Hitchcock Blonde beauty buoyed her early life, and it has made her a viral internet sensation in her later years. Stewart doesn’t shy away from a good old-fashioned Instagram thirst trap photo, whether it’s showing off her great facial features, celebrating her 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡day, or taking a relaxing dip in her pool. It seems all the self-love snagged her a cover on the 2023 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. At 81 years old, she became the magazine’s oldest-ever cover model with a pictorial equal parts smoking hot and playfully sophisticated.

Pam Grier’s groundbreaking gorgeous look defined a decade

In the 1970s, there was arguably no one more 𝓈ℯ𝓍y at the movies than Pam Grier. The star of iconic Blacksploitation films like “Coffy,” “Foxy Brown,” and “Friday Foster,” Grier’s portrayal of gorgeously fierce protagonists catapulted her into fame. Impeccably styled while kicking butt, Grier elevated B-movies not only with her gorgeous looks, but with her serious talent. Talking with PeopleTV, Grier acknowledged that while she was celebrated for her beauty, it was her study and application of acting methodologies such as Method Acting that elevated her to the next level. On taking the roles that made her a star, Grier told The Guardian, “I felt it important for women of color not to be invisible any more.” Still, Grier never found herself to be pretty, something that she attributed to having been 𝓈ℯ𝓍ually assaulted in 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥hood.

In the ’90s, a new generation was introduced to Grier when she starred as the title character in director Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 film “Jackie Brown.” The role reenergized her career and Grier has remained an in-demand actor ever since. These days, when she’s not tending to her Colorado ranch, she flexes her versatile talents on everything from cable prestige dramas like “The L Word” to network sitcoms like “Bless This Mess” and dramatic movies like “Cinnamon.”

Jessica Lange’s quiet beauty and subtle artistry

The camera loves Jessica Lange’s radiant beauty, and in her younger years, not only was Lange gorgeous, but her quirky artistic inclinations led her down a decades-long career as an actor. Lange went from small-town Minnesota to studying mime in Paris. While under the tutelage of mime legend Étienne Decroux, Lange was discovered by fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez. She modeled for Lopez, and he would do her glamor, then hit the town. Lange’s work as a model wasn’t exactly lucrative – she was supplementing her income by waiting tables – but she told Vanity Fair that her modeling agent knew her real ambition was acting, and gave her information to film producer Dino De Laurentiis for the 1976 “King Kong” reboot. She landed the part and made her film debut as Dwan, the beautiful shipwreck survivor.

Lange parlayed her beauty and talent into a celebrated Hollywood career that’s undeniable; she’s been honored with numerous awards, including two Oscars, three Emmys, and a Tony. She’s also been a favorite of Ryan Murphy, who has cast Lange in multiple seasons of “American Horror Story” and his Netflix series “The Politician.” Only a true beauty like Lange could make leopard-print stretch pants look so good.

Sir Michael Caine was a youth style icon

For modern audiences, Sir Michael Caine often cuts a benevolent, grandfatherly persona on the big screen in roles like Bruce Wayne/Batman’s butler Alfred in director Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy. But in his youth, Caine was the epitome of swinging ’60s London, a 𝓈ℯ𝓍 symbol of the “youthquake” movement. With his signature black glasses, mod turtlenecks, and well-tailored suits, Caine brought a new kind of masculinity to the screen, starring in movies like “Alfie,” the Harry Palmer spy thrillers, and “Get Carter.” He particularly identified with Palmer, telling Esquire “He had my attitude to authority: screw it, I’ll do it my way and get it right. A rebel. That was me at that time.”

That swagger and determination has carried Caine through the decades – who else could miss out on winning an Oscar because they were filming “Jaws: The Revenge” and take it in stride? Even while making the transition from leading man to beloved character actor he thought about throwing in the towel, but it was Jack Nicholson who convinced him to keep going. While Carnaby Street may no longer be the headquarters for everything cool, Caine’s youthful style still serves as inspiration for stylish folks not matter what their age.

Dame Maggie Smith had beauty and brains

Dame Maggie Smith might not consider herself a great beauty, but there’s no denying she was a gorgeous presence on the British stage and screen in her younger years. With ambitions to act since she was a teenager, her beauty was recognized by critics early in her career, but looking back on this time, Smith didn’t see herself like that. When asked about being called a “dish” in the 1960s, Smith told NPR, “That never was me. The “dish” department didn’t apply. … I think it’s got something to do with one not being a “dish” … because then you become a character actor and you have much more chance of developing and going on.”

Indeed, Smith went onto become a highly successful, and very good-looking, character actor. The ’60s and ’70s saw a youthful Smith win two Oscars, one for her performance as an unorthodox teacher in “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” and another for a not-so-in-her-prime British actor in “California Suite.” She’s continued her character acting career by taking on roles like the Dowager Countess in “Downton Abbey,” Professor Minerva McGonagall in the “Harry Potter” film series. Her beauty and brains make Smith the total package. On working with Smith on the film “The Miracle Club,” producer Chris Curling said to The Guardian, “She has such an actor’s brain. The questions she asks, the comments she makes…Every day on the set with her was a revelation.”